Location: MONTGOMERY, Alabama

In the 1830s, the South was increasingly aware of the North's industrial dominance. Commercial conventions emerged as a way to close this gap. The first meetings focused on single, specific issues such as direct trade with Europe or railroad construction. Later, the conventions would address a wide range of economic concerns.

Imagine being purchased as a slave at ten years old, forced to relocate from Virginia to Alabama, and required to endure hours of hard labor and beatings. This was the life of Walter Calloway, born in 1848 in Richmond, Virginia. At the age of 10, Calloway was bought by slave master John Calloway whose plantation resided just outside of Montgomery, Alabama. As he sat on a porch outside his home...